Direct From the Field – Josh Madfis, Emergency Education Specialist Reports April 19  Children playing in a Safe Space center in the Solomon Islands. Today was awesome. We had 58 people come for the training. I have never trained so many at one time. Most of the participants were village youth who participate in a Save [the Children] Australia youth development program. At most they had a high school degree, and were definitely not used to my Socratic method of training. When I present information, I do it in the form of questions, letting groups think a concept or idea over, and then give a response. If there's something missing in their answer, I would fill it in, complementing the gaps. For this group, whenever I asked a question, like, "Why do you think Safe Spaces are important in an emergency?" or "What kind of policies would a Safe Space need" I just got dead silence back. At least initially; I had some good local staff that were able to translate in the local pidgin and when we demonstrated some of the psychosocial games and activities, that brought us closer together. People warmed up. One icebreaker involved several volunteers making happy gestures. The first made a gesture of what they feel like when they're happy, like jumping for joy, or clapping. The second had to repeat the first's gesture and make up one of her own happy movements. The third repeated number one and number two and did their own too. By the seventh, the group was laughing so hard they could barely remember the previous one's happy movements. Because the group had never really taught anything before, I turned part of the session into a kind of teacher training lesson. I gave them the fundamentals on presenting information, and then had them go through the Safe Spaces Psychosocial Games and Activities book. They found activities they liked and taught them to the rest of the group. It was really fun, and so cool seeing the games I had tabulated in action. I think they really got how doing them brings kids together, and makes them laugh and feel good. Tomorrow we are going to one of the camps and will set up a couple Safe Spaces. It should be a great opportunity for them to apply what they have learned, and see Safe Spaces in action. I am looking forward to seeing where people are living, and how the program fits (or doesn't) April 20  Community members creating mats for Safe Space centers from palm trees. I was up at 6:30 and in the office at 7, arranging the materials we purchased into Safe Space kits to take up to one of the camps. By 10, all the volunteers had come in and the kits were ready to be transported up and into the hills were the islanders fled the tsunami. Riding up, we passed rows of shanty like camps of people living in tents, under tarps, and scores of children idling about. We finally pulled up into a clearing where folks from the camp were hacking back the jungle for us to help them create a place for their children to play, learn, and engage in structured activities. We spent the rest of the morning hacking back weeds and overgrowth, cutting out posts and beams and weaving mats from palm tree fronds. It was inspiring to see parents, children, Save [the Children] staff, teenage boys and girls, and village elders all working together to build a place for the purpose of making their children happy. By the afternoon we had constructed a shelter about 20 square meters, covered with tarp, and floored with plastic sheeting and local mats. The trained staff, unloaded the games, toys, arts and crafts supplies and started setting up stations. Several took to beautifying it, hanging bright colored streamers. And several more invited children in and just started playing. In no time the place filled with kids, and the staff had several circles, playing local games and games from the Safe Spaces book. The place was filled with laughter and shrieking giggles. Before the sunset, we promised to build another space when the community constructed the building and we left feeling pretty good. Read more about Save the Children's response in the Solomon Islands.